The present invention comprises of a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens, botanically known as Impatiens×hybrida, and referred to by the variety name ‘SAKIMP008’. ‘SAKIMP008’ originated from an interspecific hybridization between the female Impatiens plant ‘NG-02SM-1’, an unpatented proprietary Impatiens breeding line with a deep, orange flower color, medium flower size and mounding plant growth habit and the male Impatiens plant ‘NC-229’, an unpatented proprietary Impatiens breeding line with a magenta flower color, medium flower size and erect plant growth habit, in Misato, Japan.
In January 2004, the female parent line ‘NG-02SM-1’ and male parent line ‘NC-229’ were crossed and a population of F1 plants was created. The F1 plants were evaluated in Misato, Japan in an open field trial. The criteria for plant selection included salmon flower color, strong root system and mounding plant growth habit. At the completion of the trial, one single-plant selection was made based on the above criteria and vegetatively propagated. From May to August 2005, the selection was evaluated in an open field in Misato, Japan.
Shoot-tip cuttings of the variety were then shipped to Salinas, Calif., where the plants were regenerated and reevaluated for stability of traits. The selection subsequently was named ‘SAKIMP008’ and found to have its unique characteristics reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation via vegetative cuttings in Salinas, Calif.